Life is a Tangled Mess

Imagine, if you will, five skeins of yarn all clumped together in a tangled mess and you've been asked to untangle the clump. Looking at the clump some folks will automatically assume the job is impossible and will just throw it out without even trying. Some will make a feeble attempt and give up almost immediately. And some, like myself, will launch into the project with frenzied determination to solve the puzzle.

Converting a skein of yarn into a ball is advised by many before one attempts to start a project. As long as the skein is without snags, rolling up a ball of yarn is often an easy task. It's accomplished automatically and without any particular fanfare. With skill and a little imagination, all kinds of beautiful things can then be made.


Recently my daughter discovered a bag that someone had carelessly stashed four or fives skeins of yarn into. Transforming that pile of yarn into something useful was a challenge. As I worked on the project, it got me thinking. Our lives are like the tangled skeins of yarn. Some fortunate individuals can move along in life without any snags or visible knots. Many knots can be hastily undone allowing us to move right along without looking back. But all too often our lives become a tangled mess and the more we fuss, the harder it is to become untangled. The knots become tighter. It gets harder and harder to find a solution to undo the mess. Frustration becomes overwhelming and the temptation is to just give up.

God can help sort it all out! He wants to untangle all of the messy aspects of our lives and create in us a masterpiece. Oh, the masterpiece will have flaws because just by our sin nature none of us will ever be perfect. But with Him in control you only have to imagine the possibilities! Rest assured that no matter how bad things seem, God is never going to give up on you. He will never forsake you!

He has the patience to untangle any mess we have made in our lives, whether it is in our relationships, our finances, our thoughts or our actions. He has the ability to untie those knots and free us of bondage. Just as I had to examine the skeins of yarn and work to free the strands one at a time, our heavenly Father needs us to examine our lives and cast off the things that keep us tangled in sin. During this time of Lent as we prepare for the Easter season, ask Our Heavenly Father to help you untangle the knots in your life so that He may indeed create a splendid masterpiece in you!